Users freaked out as the social network revealed they’d been messing with their news feeds to try and affect their emotional state

Hundreds of thousands of Facebook users were stunned to learn the social network had been manipulating their emotional state without their knowledge as part of a massive secret psychological experiment.

Scientists working for the social network made users into lab rats for a week in January 2012, to see if meddling with the posts they saw when they logged in would change their emotions.

The study found that by messing with the news feeds of 689,003 users, researchers could change the kind of status updates they’d make.

If they were shown more negative posts from friends, the users would make more negative status posts, and the other way around.

The research paper, released in the PNAS journal this week, reads: "emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness."

It’s not a huge change - just one-tenth of a percent difference - but that could mean hundreds of thousands of status updates a day.

Facebook’s terms and conditions, which all users agree to, allow them to carry out research of this kind without telling users they’re being experimented on.

The paper says the automated testing: "“was consistent with Facebook’s Data Use Policy, to which all users agree prior to creating an account on Facebook, constituting informed consent for this research.”

Aurora Shooting Victim Parents Face $200K Court Fees, Bankruptcy, After Failing to Sue Ammo Dealers2015-08-01 2:17
The 2012 Colorado Theater Shooting still doesn’t add up…
Media character and ‘Shooter’ James Holmes in court in 2012-2013.
In 2014, Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, the mother and stepfather of Aurora Theater Shooting victim Jessica Redfield Ghawi, tried to sue the ammo companies they believe supplied shooter James Holmes with his ammunition, body armor and other items. They bleived that the online retailer BulkAmmo.com had sold Holmes ...

FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force Investigating Confederate Flags at MLK's Ebenezer Baptist Church2015-08-01 2:21
According to the Atlanta Police Department, two White men left four small Confederate Battle Flags outside MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta … and get this, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is on the scene investigating the incident.
Atlanta police Chief George Turner said his agency was working with federal authorities and they have not determined what charges might be ...

Catching on slow: Yet Another Study Show Cellphone Radiation Cause Cancer2015-08-01 1:44
The scientists were right — your cell phone can give you cancer.
There have long been whispers of a cancer connection from your cell — and a new study backs up the claims.
"These data are a clear sign of the real risks this kind of radiation poses for human health," study author Igor Yakymenko said.
Yakymenko’s meta-study — basically a study of ...

Trump Goes #Cuckservative on Immigration2015-08-01 1:28
For weeks, the media have trumpeted the supposed death of the Trump campaign. First, they claimed, Trump’s campaign imploded on launch thanks to his comments about illegal immigration. Then they claimed that Trump was finished because of his slap at Senator’s (R-AZ) war service. But neither of those comments alienated Trump’s base – he’s maintained his seven point lead over ...